A spokesman for the Alternative for Germany (AfD) told AFP the party had lodged a court challenge against the BfV agency’s designation on Monday, the day before incoming conservative chancellor Friedrich Merz is due to take office.

The BfV intelligence agency said on Friday it considered the AfD a “confirmed” right-wing extremist group, citing the “xenophobic, anti-minority, Islamophobic and anti-Muslim statements made by leading party officials.”

The classification will help authorities seek greater powers to monitor the party with phone taps and undercover agents, and has fuelled fresh calls for an outright ban on the AfD.

https://today.rtl.lu/news/world/a/2300134.html